A Tale of Chaos, Compassion, and Unconditional Love

 It wasn’t a good time for anyone. My then fiance’s mother had passed away unexpectedly, and the family was spread all over Georgia and Ohio, many without reliable transportation. My fiance had to catch a flight home from the middle of his AT Training (a two week long refresher course of sorts for Reservist Marines). I called out of work for a few days in order to be available to drive people the to the funeral parlor. On top of all this, the apartment he was staying at was over-crowded as several family members needed a place to stay while everything was getting prepared. It was a mess.

She kind of just showed up in the middle of all the chaos, outside in the communal ‘yard’ the apartments shared. I had just pulled what was close to an all nighter to help move people around and get them settled. The Georgia sun was up, but hadn’t started the assault of its heat just yet. And there she was, on the grass, as though she had always been there. Some of the neighborhood kids tried to play with her. She responded half-heartedly to their calls, but didn’t display any aggression. She looked healthy - I assumed someone had accidently left their door open for too long and she would be gone from us by the next day. She wasn’t. I gave her one more evening to return to wherever she had come from. On the third day I called animal control.

“She’s a tri-colored terrier mix, fully grown. We found her two days ago.”

No one was looking for her. I found out the area where we found her was a popular dump site for pets people didn’t want. I felt slightly sick as I thought of all the dead cats I’d seen on the side of the road before. It was a very suburban area with a lot of people who didn’t care about the speed limit.

“It’s so hot outside - we can’t bring her in?”

My fiance’s sisters were reluctant. Their cat had been badly frightened by a relative’s dog and was in no mood to deal with any more of them. But I kept persisting. It really didn’t help that she chose to stake out where we were. I’d seen a number of neighbors offer food and water, even opening their doors (letting precious AC out). She wasn’t interested. She wanted to be where we were. I’d like to note it wasn’t like we knew her from anywhere. None of us had seen her before, and yet she persisted, day after day, sitting on the porch, trying to slip inside. At night, she scratched and jumped at the door. She even followed us to work - both his sisters had her follow them a good way as they walked to their respective stores. I felt guilty for not trying harder to have her stay inside.

Something snapped inside me around the fifth or the sixth day. By this time I was already well into entertaining the idea that I would keep her, but I still held out hope that someone would come looking for her. But then I made the mistake of taking a car ride with her - after all, I thought, I need to make sure she wouldn’t become car sick. Finances worries loomed over me, and I began making plans to take her with me to Florida when I returned to college to drop her off at a no-kill shelter I had volunteered at before if no one claimed her and I couldn’t keep her. I waited until the evening when it wasn’t so hot, and spent almost the entire ride laughing as she happily stuck her head out of the window and smiled at the world. There was one moment of panic - she was so excited to see me return to the car after I finished my errand that she bolted out of it as I tried to get back in. I called frantically into the sticky, inky night, not even having a name to yell. Way to go, idiot, I thought angrily. That might be the last time you even see her. Desperate, I whistled and called again. Her return was preceded by the clicking of claws against the pavement and in an instant, she materialized. Back in the car, back to the porch again when I got back. This is not the kind of dog that runs away. This is the kind of dog you would have to leave somewhere.

As my fiance and I were leaving to go on a date the following day, she sprinted after my car. Four or five blocks down I pulled over abruptly, crying. I wanted so badly to believe someone was missing a little brown dog with a tongue that stuck out sideways when she panted, but how do you explain such fierce attachment? Why would she abandon her home if she was just going to find another family to be with instead? And why was it only us?

I called his sister as I got her into the car and went back to the apartment.

“Just make sure she doesn’t run after us, please. You don’t need to let her in the house, just hold her here.”

I still felt bad as I drove away, watching her twist and try to escape his sister’s grasp to follow us again.

I brought her to the town shelter the next day, worried she would get hit by a car before I could find her owners or drive to Florida and take her to the no-kill shelter there. She had a cute face. Maybe someone would take her here. I knew dogs were expensive and despite working all summer, I didn’t have much cash. Not to mention I would have to put most of the responsibility on my fiance, since my dorm wouldn’t allow her.

“You normally have to call animal control for them to pick her up, but you can drop her off now if you pay $40.”

I must have made a face as I took a step back. “Um…”

“You know what? Don’t worry about it, we’ll sort it out here.” He approached with a massively thick leash made from rope.

“Actually, I think I’ll be ok. Thank you for you time.”

I made two calls as I left. One to the pet store, who said I could being her in without a leash or collar so they could size her to get one. A second to his roommate, who had no problem with a dog living in the apartment if we paid the pet fee.

“What do you think you’ll name her?” It was the next day, I was driving with him and his younger brother.

“I don’t know, I tried not to think about it too much because I thought we wouldn’t keep her. Do you have any ideas?”

His brother spoke up. “I like Pepper.”

Pepper was decent, but I wanted something with a little more spice in it.

“What’s her name?” The vet asked as she was registered for her vaccines.

“Pepperoncini, Pepper for short.”

In a last ditch effort to find an owner, I had reported her lost on Craigslist. I was never contacted by anybody. The vet couldn’t find a microchip. Pepper got along fine with the cat and my nephews when she was finally allowed inside the apartment. Animal control had told me that if she was under our care and a week went by without any claims, she’d be considered ours.

And then I realized she wasn’t going to any shelter at all.

There’s a good amount of scientific literature that suggests dogs can be therapeutic for people with depression. I’ve found that to be very true. Some of my worst days are made better with the happiest dog in the world. She loves meeting new friends, always has a smile, and is a constant source of antics and joy for me and my husband. And she only just passed her first year of living with us.

We’ve thought a lot about why she was abandoned. Other than a few toilet training issues and aggression towards other dogs, it really made no sense. Pepper rarely barks, is friendly with children and cats, doesn’t chew anything she isn’t supposed to, and isn’t high energy.

She could have had puppies before we got her and become one too many mouths to feed. She could have been cared for by an elderly person who passed away with relatives who didn’t want her around. We’ll never know. What we do know is that she doesn’t like other dogs, and hates when people yell. She loves walks, treats, naps, sitting in the sunshine, and being photographed.

My experience with bringing in a stray couldn’t be better.